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contact with Germans consisted
of short university classes and my
roommate. Other Americans were
my company. I lacked both experience
with German family life and
a point of comparison to the cosmopolitan
culture of Berlin, which represents
Germany as much and as
little as New York City the U.S.A. For
those reasons, life with a German
family in the Saarland greatly enriched
my understanding of German
culture. I came from the academic
background of German Studies to
experience the practical day-to-day
conversations, work, errands and
routine of life in the Saarland. I celebrated
the calendar of seasonal festivals
that every village seemed to
offer, no matter how small: events
like the Noswendeler Schlachtfest,
the Wadriller Erbsenrad and the
Schmelzer Schmackes. School holidays
offered other breaks in the
routine. I shared my host family´s
frustration as we sat in traffic on
the autobahn, returning from skiing
in Austria with, it seemed, all of
Germany. There were daily cultural
nuances to learn and relearn. What
do Germans use to clean the stove?
Why do they count to three on
their fingers differently than I? Why
should pouring a good Pilsner take
seven minutes? Informal learning
formed a regular part of my time in
Wadern; conversations, road signs
and advertisements all awoke me to
aspects of German culture I did not
know existed.
On to formal learning and teaching.
I did not come to Wadern with the
intention of becoming a teacher,
nor do I now want to become one.
I would like to work for the U.S. Foreign
Service. This did not mean
I did not want to perform my job
well. On the contrary, I came to the
Assistantship at the HWG and the
Graf-Anton-Schule full of ideas for
teaching and even more full of intentions.
In the course of the next
ten months, like an artist carving
a sculpture, experience hewed the
rough contours of a teacher out of
me. I realized the great differences
between 6th graders and 12th
graders and between Gymnasiasten,
Hauptschüler and Realschüler.
Some lesson plans failed while
others worked, and my success
did not always correspond to the
amount of time spent in preparation.
A lesson plan about the New
York City subway system was much
too difficult for my 7th graders, just
as my 11th graders probably found
certain Robert Frost poems boring
and indecipherable. The occasional
successful lesson compensated for
a couple mediocre or difficult ones.
My teachers observed and guided
my efforts with a mixture of interest,
amusement and helpful advice. As
mentors they recognized that I tried
to make up my lack of experience
with energy and creativity. I in turn
respected most of them for their
engagement and talent, for now I
see how potentially challenging and
rewarding the teaching profession
can be. All in all, I now know slightly
better what works in the classroom
and what does not, and that I could
enjoy teaching as a career.
At the end of my year abroad I feel
challenged to neatly summarize
it. Because I had already lived ten
months in Germany, much of my
experience this year built upon that
experience. There were no great culture
shock moments; rather, Germany
became intimate to me through
my host family and my schools, a
life speaking German among Germans.
I will not judge my time in
Wadern as harshly as Faust did his
time at university. Unlike his failure
to acquire the knowledge he strove
for, I have gained practical experience
for my career plans as a Foreign
Service Officer. The Fulbright
Program has sparked me to become
involved in international relations
and exchange programs in order
to promote intercultural dialogue.
Classroom teaching, my conversational
club and film evenings gave
me the first opportunity to plan
and host intercultural exchanges
personally. I enjoyed my day-to-day
involvement as a representative of
the United States. Though Faust´s
opening monologue seems despairing,
it is the starting point for him
to travel and experience the world
over the length of the play. My year
in Wadern was also a starting point
for a career dedicated to learning
languages and encountering other
cultures. Or at least for using Google
Maps.
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